Directors see bigger pay increase than staff

By Jennifer Stahn

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Image Credit: Contributor: TNRD

June 04, 2013 - 5:04 PM

THOMPSON-NICOLA — In 2012 more than $8 million was doled out to board members and staff of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District. While staff only saw a token increase of $11,000 in salary pay over 2011, remuneration pay including expenses for board and committee members saw an increase of more than $50,000 over 2011 and is up nearly $180,000 over 2009.

The small increase for staff is partially the result of two chief administrative officer salaries showing on the 2011 books. Former TNRD CAO Greg Toma retired in September of that year and Sukh Gill was announced as his replacement in April 2011.

While the overall increase for staff was nominal, board directors saw significant increases over their 2011 pay. A nearly nine per cent increase in basic pay had the 37 directors earning a total of about $39,000 more in 2012. Between 2009 and 2011 the increase was 37 per cent, or about $118,000. In 2009 there were 39 directors and in 2011, an election year, a total of 48 directors received pay.

Some directors will be making even more this year after a new remuneration bylaw was approved in February. Payment for alternate directors will remain the same, as will pay for travel time and meeting attendance. The board chair, vice chair and many directors will receive up to a few hundred dollars more annually but the biggest change will be to directors from the Thompson Headwaters area (electoral area ‘B’) with a $4,500 increase in pay.

Last year eight employees were making more than $100,000 with a new CAO leading the pack for both pay and expenses at more than $176,000 in remuneration and nearly $18,000 in expense pay. In total, staff was paid $7,548 million in 2012, up from $7,537 million in 2011.

These numbers could all be a lot higher though. A total of 17 positions within the TNRD have the possibility of earning more than $100,000 in salary pay—including five director positions that start at just under $119,000 and 11 manager positions that start at $91,500 with the potential of stepping up to just over $100,000. Nine other positions within the TNRD earn over $75,000 per year.

To contact a reporter for this story, email jstahn@infotelnews.ca, call (250) 819-3723 or message through Twitter @JennStahn.

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